February 9, 2004

“The BBC saw fit to fuel the fires of fear over nanotech in last night’s Horizon. While the web content is quite moderate, the prevailing image of nanotech the program presented was a swarm of CGI grey goo flying like a whirling dervish over a blasted desert (an image straight out of Michael Crichton’s Prey, interspersed with time-lapse shots of reproducing cells and decaying animals as the commentary spoke of… read more

February 9, 2004

Eating seafood that contains mercury can affect the brain development of children in their adolescence, according to a study of people in the Faroe Islands.

The study contradicts the opinion of researchers who think these compounds are toxic only to babies as they develop in the womb, and that older children are unlikely to suffer developmental problems from the poison.

February 6, 2004

We can avoid the risks of molecular nanotechnology by building “self-regulating assembly” and “disassembly” into nanotechnology from the start, says Douglas Mulhall, author of “Our Molecular Future.”

Self-regulating assembly means built-in controls that limit replication rates of molecular assemblers. Ddisassembly (such as building in biodegradability) ensures that assemblers won’t be fundamentally defective from environmental and military security viewpoints.

February 6, 2004

Researchers at Harvard University have made a nanotube double quantum dot by gating a carbon nanotube in a number of places. The strength of the tunnel coupling between the dots was tunable, which means the device could have applications in quantum computing.

February 6, 2004

The total global demand for nanoscale materials, tools, and devices was estimated at $7.6 billion in 2003 and is expected to grow at an average annual growth rate (AAGR) of 30.6% to reach $28.7 billion in 2008, according to a report from from Business Communications Company: Nanotechnology: A Realistic Market Evaluation.

The nanotechnology market is believed to be growing more than twice as fast as either the… read more

February 6, 2004

Scientists from the University of Copenhagen claim to have made the first electronic hybrid nanotube-semiconductor devices. They encapsulated single-walled carbon nanotubes in epitaxially grown semiconductor structures.

The development opens up possibilities for designing hybrid nanotube/semiconductor devices, where nanotubes act as interconnects in traditional semiconductor integrated circuits or as active devices.

February 6, 2004

The Pentagon canceled its so-called LifeLog project, an ambitious effort to build a database tracking a person’s entire existence, including just about everything an individual says, sees, or does.

LifeLog’s backers said the all-encompassing diary could have turned into a near-perfect digital memory, giving its users computerized assistants with an almost flawless recall of what they had done in the past. But civil libertarians immediately pounced on the project… read more

February 5, 2004

Researchers have inserted a gene from a nematode worm into mice that enables them to make omega-3 fatty acids, which can help prevent heart attacks. If the same feat can be achieved in farm animals, meat, milk and eggs could all be directly enriched with the oils.

February 5, 2004

Some people may be aware that a scene they are looking at has changed without being able to identify what that change is. This could be a newly discovered mode of conscious visual perception, according to University of British Columbia psychologist Ronald Rensink, who discovered it. He has dubbed the phenomenon “mindsight.”

“I think this effect explains a lot of the belief in a sixth sense,” he said.

February 5, 2004

John Sperling has quietly assembled an unorthodox team of researchers poised to use all relevant technology in “regenerative medicine” — including, ultimately, therapeutic cloning, stem cell medicine, and genetic engineering — to alleviate human suffering and the fear of death.

February 5, 2004

Nanotechnology will play a key role in next-generation silicon, according to researchers.

Promising technologies include crossed nanowire structures that form matrices, transistors that use a single electron to control current flow, and carbon nanotubes, which may extend CMOS scaling down to the 1 to 3 nm range.

IBM has applied a molecular “self-assembly” technique to nanotechnology and recently applied it to flash memory devices.

February 5, 2004

Researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory and the University of Rome have found a way to mobilize stem cells to achieve a major regeneration of damaged tissue.

The scientists investigated muscle tissue in mice, discovering that stem cells can travel large distances to reach an injury. They also found a special form of a protein called mIGF-1 induces the muscle to send the distress signal that summons them.… read more

February 5, 2004

Exposing cells noninvasively to an extremely powerful electric field for nanoseconds might one day be used to treat cancer, speed up healing or tackle obesity.

Teams led by Vernier, Karl Schoenbach of Old Dominion University and Stephen Beebe of Eastern Virginia Medical School, both in Norfolk, Virginia, have shown that “nanopulsing” with electric fields with gradients of tens of megavolts per meter, applied for nanoseconds, can kill tumor cells… read more